


The Return

by merlin07



Category: David Tennant - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 12:44:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6611128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlin07/pseuds/merlin07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Dream Come True?<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Los Angeles had a totally different vibe, David mused as he was being driven back to the hotel. As he gazed out the window of the car it seemed to him that everyone appeared to be running on Red Bull and had an urgent need to be somewhere other than where they were right now. 

The shooting for the pilot of “Rex is Not Your Lawyer” was a completely different animal than working on “Doctor Who” too. A bit more laid back, for one thing, and a lot less running around, he laughed.

After the chilly, damp shoot and the endless hours with the golf instructor that made his arms ache, he was ready for a hot bath, perhaps a glass of red wine and a warm meal, precisely in that order would revive him.

As he opened the hotel room door his eye was immediately drawn to a silver pocket watch on the table in the corridor. He picked it up and smiled, turning it around in his hands. Obviously a very detailed replica from some shop that sold high end “Doctor Who” merchandise. The watch was quite heavy in his palm and as he examined it closer the symbols on the cover seemed to be changing the more he looked at them. 

Or maybe it was just his tired eyes playing tricks on him. 

He went to set the watch down but found he couldn’t get his fingers to release it. It was like they had a mind of their own. With his free hand he pried the watch out of his grip and set it on the table with a puzzled expression on his face. 

But then he heard a voice calling to him, he looked into the body of the hotel room and made sure he was alone. Then he looked back at the watch, it was glowing a soft orange around the rim, and it was clearly the source of the voice. 

“OK that’s weird,” he thought and not taking his eyes from the watch slowly backed away from the table. 

Fighting the strange urge to run back to the watch and open it, he shucked his clothes, changing into his robe and started a hot bath. Then he called down to room service and ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir, and stretched out on the sofa to wait for it to arrive.

A few minutes later a waiter from the hotel brought the bottle up, setting it on the table just inside the door then opened it for him, accepted the tip and left him alone.

As David picked up the glass of wine to take it into the bathroom he remembered the watch, he lifted the tray but it was nowhere to be seen. 

“Maybe the waiter took it”, he concluded. Just as well really, it obviously wasn’t his and frankly the thing spooked the hell out of him.

As he approached the bathroom he slid his free hand into his robe pocket and felt something metallic in it. He stopped in his tracks and almost dropping the glass of wine, pulled the watch out with a gasp.

“What the hell?” he asked of the empty room.

The watch was whispering again and the closer he lifted it to his ear the warmer it grew in his hand. He didn’t want to listen but something compelled him to and his fingers moved to open the clasp all on their own before he came back to himself and tossed the thing across the room with a yell.

Determined to not let this unnerve him (more) he slipped off the robe, draping it over a chair next to the tub, climbed into the bath then took a sip of the wine and closed his eyes. He was in that wonderfully relaxed, half asleep/half awake state when he became aware he was no longer alone in the room.

“You are massively stubborn,” a voice declared just inches from him.

David’s eyes flew open to see a figure dressed in a long tan coat and a brown pin stripe suit sitting on the chair next to him, regarding him with large dark eyes. His first thought was this was one of those uber fans he kept hearing about, perhaps even a dangerous stalker? He eyed the door, trying to decide if he could get out of the tub and to a phone before the stranger could catch up to him.

He was about to test this out when the man leaned in, put one hand on the back of his head pulling him forward. He then held the watch up to David’s face and clicked it open. 

Suddenly a rush of images flooded David’s mind so quickly he hardly had time to identify one when another flashed by. What he remembered out of all it was a blue alien licking him, being tied to a table surrounded by thugs in black, and lastly seeing the real Doctor in his real TARDIS. 

He wasn’t aware that in an effort to fight off the watches’ effects he had thrashed so hard that he fell under the water until he was lifted out of the tub, and wrapped in his robe and set down on the chair.

When his vision cleared he saw The Doctor kneeling in front of him, “Are you all right?”

“What are you doing here?” David asked his head still spinning, “shouldn’t you be off pestering Matt Smith or something?”

“Do we have go over this again?” The Doctor sighed, “do you think he could pass for me in the real world?”

“Define ‘real’,” David countered.

The Doctor realised that this was going to get him nowhere. So he stood up and handed David the wine glass, “here, drink this. I’ll be in the other room, come out when you’re ready.” 

“How about never? Does never work for you?” David yelled, addressed the retreating form. Still a bit shaken, he rose from the chair dried himself off a bit and then taking a deep breath walked into the sitting area.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time he reached the sitting area David was a lot more calm and ready to listen to whatever The Doctor had to say. But first, he remembered his manners, “would you like a glass of wine?” he asked.

The Time Lord nodded, “sure, why not?” 

As David handed him a glass and refilled his own the two men watched each other in an uncomfortable silence. Finally David spoke up, “do you feel the effects of alcohol, or should I say the same effects as humans?”

“Ever the fan boy.” The Doctor smiled, “yes and no. If I consumed a lot I would definitely feel it, but I wouldn’t get that pleasant tipsy feeling. I would just get very ill.”

“So you skip straight to the hangover.” 

“Pretty much.”

More silence followed, “this is obviously not just a social call,” David leaned in, “so what’s going on?”

The Doctor finished his glass of wine before answering, “you’re right it’s not a strictly a social call, although I have been wanting to check in with you. This is pretty important actually…” Then he trailed off, staring at some point beyond David and grew silent.

David waited for The Doctor to continue but the Time Lord seemed a bit reluctant to come out with the purpose of his visit. Although he was very curious, a small part of him didn’t really want to know, especially since it obviously weighed heavy on The Doctor’s mind.

“I was about to get something to eat, would you care to join me?” 

The Doctor regarded him quizzically as if David was speaking a completely unfamiliar language. But then he nodded, “that would be nice. I hope you’re planning on ordering in or getting takeaway, I’m pretty sure we’d attract attention otherwise.”

David rose, retrieving the room service menu and handed it to The Doctor, “pick whatever you want off of there. I’m going to get dressed, I’ll be back.”

When David came back into the room The Doctor was still studying the menu, he looked up at the actor over the rim of his glasses, “Aww...I was sort of hoping you’d have that Underdog t-shirt on!” he laughed.

“I do have other clothing,” David smiled, and with a flourish opened his outer shirt to reveal a black t-shirt with a Storm Trooper from “Star Wars” done in silver sequins.

“Wow, that is, that is really cool,” The Doctor smiled and reached over the trace the pattern with his fingers, “of course Storm Troopers never really existed it was just a sort of modern day allegorical reference to the Nazis in World War Two mixed in with a bit of medieval lore and a touch of outer space cowboys added to it…”

David held his hands up, “got it!”

The Doctor stopped, realising that he was in full on lecture mode he went quiet for a moment. He blinked a few times and held up the menu, “I can’t decide, there are too many options.” 

“All right,” David sat down and put his glasses on, “are you a vegetarian?”

“Not technically,” The Doctor replied. 

David raised an eyebrow but said nothing, studied the menu a bit more and said, “OK I’ve got it be right back.”

Over dinner, a large fruit salad for two, with mixed cheeses on the side and a selection of breads, David broached the subject again, “Why are you here?”

“Aside from the free food?” The Doctor joked picking a slice of banana out of the salad and popping it into his mouth.

“Right.”

The Doctor’s face grew serious, “I’m beginning to think this isn’t such a good idea. This is potentially ten times more dangerous than the last time. And I can’t risk you coming to harm because of me.”

“How about you tell me what it is and let me decide for myself?” David countered.

“Never mind, I think I’ll just have to do this on my own.” The Doctor continued his voice very soft and not looking at the actor.

David resisted the urge to shake the hell out of him, but it was getting hard to keep his cool, “Just. Tell. Me!”

The Doctor looked surprised at the tone of David’s voice, “the reason this is too dangerous is you’d need to fool another Time Lord.”

“The Master?” David leaned forward eager to hear more.

The Doctor nodded. “Well, thanks for the food!” He rose to his feet, “I suppose I should be off…”

David grabbed The Doctor’s arm, “wait! Don’t go yet, tell me what you have in mind, please?”

“You’re mad, you know that?’ The Doctor gave him a sad half smile, but sat back down, “all right, but you’re under no obligation to agree to do this, I will fully understand if you don’t want to and will not think any worse of you if you don’t.”


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor was quiet, obviously gathering his thoughts. David had so many questions whirling around his head but didn’t want to rush The Doctor so he forced himself to relax and wait for the explanation.

His patience was rewarded after a few more minutes; “I don’t really need to explain the whole back story you know the important bits already. But the issue now is that The Master has hidden himself in the past and has disguised himself so well that even I can’t find him. I can’t feel him, or smell him or sense him. I know where he went and when he went, and I’m already feeling a disturbance in the timeline, history is set to change if we don’t find him and stop him.”

David noticed the change in pronouns at the end of the sentence and smiled softly but said nothing, waiting for The Doctor to continue.

“I think I can flush him out, or rather you could flush him out. If he thinks you’re me in some sort of distress, he won’t be able to resist coming after you, to destroy me, or rather you as me, when I’m, I mean you’re at your weakest,” The Doctor shook his head, “let me rephrase that. That sentence kind of got away from me.”

“I actually followed that,” David laughed, “to sum up; I’m to be bait again.”

“In a nutshell, yes.” 

“So how do you propose to do this?” David asked.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect you to agree to this, so I hadn’t quite worked that out yet,” The Doctor admitted with a naughty schoolboy grin.

Both men were lost in thought until David spoke up, “the last time you didn’t really give me a lot of information on Martha, I mean Miranda. How about telling me what The Master looks like?”

“I can only tell you what he looked like when I last saw him. Unfortunately he doesn’t resemble John Simm at all, although he did a great job! I could totally buy him as The Master, and I think The Master was secretly flattered by the portrayal too, up until the last two episodes that you did.” The Doctor rattled on at break neck speed, “That really got him steamed, he didn’t like being shown as being bonkers even though he really is quite mad, although I for one am quite glad he can’t shoot electricity from his hands or jump over tall buildings or is given to eating homeless people…”

“Right! So know I know what he doesn’t look like and what he can’t do. That’s not a lot of help though,” David interrupted “looking for someone who doesn’t look like John Simm isn’t very useful.”

“No I suppose it isn’t,” The Doctor smiled, “The last time I saw him he was a bit shorter than you and I, long blonde hair that he tends to wear pulled back, and a penchant for wearing all black.”

“Facial hair?” David asked.

“No ‘rubbish beard’ if that’s what you’re asking,” The Doctor laughed, “now that was funny or at least I thought so, he didn’t.”

“Anything remarkable that stands out so I spot him if he’s not wearing black or has gotten a hair cut?” David prompted.

“Yes! Now that you mention it, he has one blue eye and one brown.”

David nodded and leaned forward, “All right, you said I am supposed to be you in some sort of trouble, right? What do you think of this idea?”  
\---

The Master was getting bored, it was one thing to play hide and go seek with The Doctor, but if he was doing all the hiding and The Doctor was not doing any of the seeking it seemed pointless.

He had quickly established himself, through any means necessary, as a man of power in this puny little village, which given the tiny minds of the humans around him, was not much of a challenge. Once The Master realised no one had the wit or strength to stand up to him or offer him more than a few hours of amusement. He grew restless.

“Where is that infernal bastard?” He cursed aloud. Yes, he had covered his tracks but surely The Doctor wasn’t going to be thrown by a little bit of trickery?

One of his spies came back with some news about a man found wandering, dazed and very ill on the edge of town. The man, the spy explained, had on strange clothing and was no sooner found than he collapsed and was taken to the town’s hospital.

The Master yawned at this news, and was just about to order the spy to leave him the hell alone when the spy also mentioned that a strange blue box had been spotted in field a few days before but had vanished around the same time the stranger was discovered.

The Master jumped to his feet, a wide smile on his face, “take me to see this man,” he commanded, “if he’s the one I’ve been looking for, you will be handsomely rewarded.” 

The spy grinned widely but it was soon replaced by a worried frown when The Master continued, “but if he’s not and you’ve gotten my hopes up, you will regret this until your dying breath. Which believe me, will not come soon enough!”


	4. Chapter 4

As another wave of nausea hit him David made a mental note to have a little sit down with The Doctor and explain what the term “mild” really means. The last time it was a “mild shock” which wasn’t and “mildly ill” this time, when in fact he felt like holy hell. He closed his eyes, trying to get past the urge to retch and replayed the events that lead up to him winding up in a hospital in a strange world.

The Doctor ran around the TARDIS’ medical bay mixing various liquids and powders into a vial before handing it to him, instructing him to drink it. It was halfway to his lips before David’s good senses kicked in and he asked, “so what exactly is in this?”

“In order for this to work you need to be able to pass yourself off as me to The Master. Those thugs, the last time, were easy you just had to act like me to convince them. The Master will be harder because he’s a fellow Time Lord. He will be able to get past the olfactory tricks we used the last time, and would tell right away you’re not me,” The Doctor explained, “the two heartbeats is easy, I have a smaller version of a sound replicator that I can just apply to your chest with a bit of adhesive, it will be virtually impossible to detect. But your smell is all wrong.”

David waited for more information but realised The Doctor had to wandered off into his own mind and had to be prompted to continue, “and?”

The Doctor blinked a few times as he was pulled back to the present, “and, well…. that vial contains a very mild strain of Valchovian Plague.”

“Plague?” David set the vial down quickly, wiping the hand that held it on his jeans and stepped back from it, “are you mad?”

The Doctor smiled, “it’s not really a plague, it’s more like influenza and I’ve rendered it mostly harmless. You’ll only get mildly ill. You’ll feel a bit queasy and run a bit of a fever is all, and it will only last a few days. The important thing is illness changes a Time Lord’s body chemistry. That includes my scent, plus it would raise my body temperature, which is normally lower than that of a human. So that is how you’ll be able to fool The Master, well, that and your great acting skills. This will not make you that ill, but you can play it up and make it seem a lot worse.”

“Can’t you just hose me down with scent and let me act like I’m ill instead?”

“Are you able to perspire on command?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” David sighed.

“As I said before I won’t hold it against you if you decide not to do this, it is dangerous even with these precautions ahead of time. I will be watching you at all times, once The Master reveals himself I will be able to catch him and get him away from here before he causes more damage,” The Doctor leaned in close to the actor, “I wouldn’t ask you to do anything that you don’t feel comfortable doing.”

David picked up the vial, “OK let’s get this started,” he tipped the contents into his mouth, noting the slightly toothpaste note to it as he swallowed, “how long before this kicks in?”

“The actual virus takes about 24 hours to infect the host, but this one is a vastly watered down version. But then again it’s not something a human would ever really get exposed to, unless that human somehow came in contact with a Valchovian and since they are really not given to visiting Earth and you lot haven’t gotten that far out in the universe yet…” 

David held up his hands, “the simple answer would be; you don’t know.”

“Right,” The Doctor smiled.

Once David was fitted with the sound replicator, which he had to admit was pretty hard to detect, and wearing The Doctor’s brown pin stripe suit, he was starting to feel a bit warm and slightly dizzy. 

That last thought yanked David out of his thoughts and back to the present as another bout of nausea washed over him. He cursed under his breath and rolled onto his back. He could be in LA enjoying the nice hotel suite they set him up in, being in the warm sun, but no! He wondered if it would be considered bad form to punch The Doctor square in the face when he saw him next.  
\----  
The Master wasted no time with underlings; barged past security and went straight to the office of the hospital administrator. As he threw open the doors to the man’s office the Administrator rose to his feet, “My lord!” the man simpered, “you honour this humble establishment with your presence!”

The Master waved him off with irritation, “you have a new patient here. A man was admitted today, possibly unusual symptoms, maybe a bit odd physical make up.”

The Administrator looked confused, but quickly pressed a button on a communication device on his desk. After a brief conversation with someone on the other end he looked back at The Master, “yes we put him in isolation, the Matron said…”

Again The Master cut him off, “take me to your security observation area.”

The Administrator took him there, all the time doing some pretty impressive arse kissing The Master had to admit grudgingly.

Once they reached the bank of monitors The Master dismissed the nervous man and quickly located the display that was trained on who he really hoped was The Doctor. He adjusted the controls so the camera zoomed in on the bed.

His hearts skipped a beat when he saw The Doctor’s face come into focus. He was deathly pale aside from two bright red spots on his cheeks, and a thin sheen of sweat covered his forehead. The Master forced himself to not look away as the figure on the monitor dry retched a few times, the spasms wracking his body. 

“What has the fool done to himself this time?” he hissed to the empty room. Despite all his efforts he felt an unwanted surge of sympathy for The Doctor, which he quickly dispensed of and replaced with cold anger. The Doctor was too easy a target now; it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to destroy him when he was like this. 

Not that it would stop him.

\----------  
David heard the camera motor’s whine and saw it move to focus directly on him, and quickly got into character. As he played to the camera he fervently hoped that his feigned bout of being sick wouldn’t become reality. Then tossed a bit on the bed, gave a soft moan like he was in throws of a fevered nightmare. Choosing to under play the moment, he stopped there and pulled the covers tighter to himself. Then he lay still again hoping that would be enough to satisfy whomever it was that was now watching his every move. 

Luckily it did. 

The Master leaned even closer to the monitor watching this all with mixed emotions. Obviously The Doctor was too ill to get away any time soon, making him a very easy target. But playing with half dead prey would not sate his appetite for revenge at all! This would be too much like toying with a mere human, and where was the challenge in that? No! first they must make him well enough to fight back, then and only then would he take action. He smiled at the thought of tenderly nursing The Doctor back to health only to snap his scrawny neck later.

The Master returned to the office of the hospital administrator, “I want you to take special care of that patient. Anything you need to do to get him well, you do it. I will be monitoring his progress and if he is not better within two days I will show you what happens to people who do not follow my orders!” with that he lifted the hapless man by his cheap suit’s lapels, “do I make myself clear?”

The Administrator found he had no voice aside from a squeak of fear. The Master took that as an affirmative answer and strode out of the office.


	5. Chapter 5

David managed to doze off for a few minutes but was startled awake by a sudden flurry of activity. As his eyes flew open his gaze was met with at six sets of anxious eyes staring down at him. In a flash the poking and prodding began. Two doctors and four nurses were busy taking his vitals, feeling his forehead and quickly reaching inside his gown to apply cold instruments to his chest.

His first instinct, as they got a bit more personal than he felt particularly comfortable with, was to sit up and push them the hell away from him, but then he remembered he was supposed to be gravely ill and weak.

He let his eyes partially close, but watched them all very closely through his lashes. When one of the nurses held an hypodermic to the light to purge out the air bubbles he waited until she was about to jab it into his arm to fake another round of dry retching and flailed his arms about and knocked it out of her hands. David almost felt badly for her as it clattered to the ground and she let out a shriek, but not sorry enough to repeat the same action when she tried with yet another hypodermic.

One of the doctors spoke up and called a meeting on the other side of the room, David kept an eye on them as they huddled together. He couldn’t make out what they were saying but occasionally one would flash a worried look in his direction before turning back into the circle.

Then two of the nurses came back to the bed and raised the head of it up, moving him into a semi sitting position, one of the doctors pulled a bottle of something out of his pocket, measured it into a small cup and thrust it into David’s hands, “drink this,” he ordered.

David let it fall out of his grip spilling it onto the bed. The resulting mess was quickly cleaned up leaving only a wet brown stain on the blanket. The doctor just sighed, retrieved the cup and poured another dose, and set it and the bottle down on the bed stand, and turning to one of the nurses said, “make sure he drinks this and get an orderly in here now to get him some fresh bedding!”

There was a crush at the door as all the nurses and the two doctors tried to get out of the room and not be the one to try to make this unruly patient take the medication. The only nurse left when the dust cleared was the one David had prevented from giving him a shot earlier. She looked around the room her eyes wide, searching for someone else to pass the duty onto. When she realised she was it, she timidly approached his bedside.

The nurse picked up the cup and held it out to him, her hands shaking a bit, “you really have to drink this…”

Taking a bit of pity on her David opened his eyes and in a weak voice asked, “why?”

“You’ll feel better,” she replied not being able to meet his stare, instead she gazed up at the security camera, “if you don’t I’ll get in trouble” she whispered.

“Why would you get in trouble if I don’t?” David pressed her for more information, “who are you afraid of?”

She shot another nervous look at the camera, “please just drink it.”

“What’s it in?”

“It’s just an herbal remedy to soothe your stomach, I swear it’s nothing bad or evil. It is just to make you feel better.”

As sorry as he felt for her, he didn’t really trust what she was saying was above board. David closed his eyes again like it was an effort to stay awake, but she wasn’t going to take no for an answer though. She leaned over him and shook his shoulder gently, and when he opened his eyes she thrust the cup into his face wordlessly, her face a picture of fear.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw another figure enter the room, a tall, thin man in a white orderly’s uniform and a white cap pulled low over his face came up behind the nurse, “is he giving you trouble?” he asked her.

As the nurse turned to face the orderly a part of her noted that she hadn’t seen him around the hospital before. Not that it was really that unusual. It wasn’t like they would be in the same social circle, but somehow he looked familiar. 

The orderly took the cup from her and leaned over David, “hey mate!” he growled in a strong cockney accent, “just take the damn medicine and quit giving the nice lady a hard time.” 

Then the orderly winked at him, barely concealing his mirth as the corners of his mouth twitched upwards.

David took the cup and tipped the contents into his mouth, the slightly licorice-y taste was cloying and it made his tongue tingle a bit but he managed to gulp it down. 

As he drained the dregs the nurse sighed in relief and patted the orderly on the arm, “thank you for your help!” With that she took the cup from David and rushed out of the room.

The orderly pulled the blanket off the bed and grabbed a clean one from the cart, in putting the new one down he temporally blocked them from view of the camera, “this is going to have to be quick…” he started

David sat up a bit, “where the hell have you been?” he hissed at The Doctor, “oh and by the way I am buying you a flippin’ dictionary, I feel like I’ve been hit by a lorry!”

“I did say that it was pretty hard to determine how it would effect a human,” The Doctor replied reasonably. Laying the blanket over David and the whole time keeping his back to the camera.

David lay back against the bed, “OK I’ll give you that.”

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” The Doctor continued, “the bad news is; obviously The Master is behind all this sudden interest in your well being but he hasn’t shown himself yet.”

“And the good news?”

“Err, actually there isn’t any,” The Doctor admitted with a cheeky grin as he tucked the blankets around the actor, “there is more bad news though.”

The Doctor waited for David to ask, when he didn’t he cocked his eyebrow at him but pressed on, “the more bad news is that the buzz around here is that you are to be made well just so some high placed individual, who I believe is The Master, can have you in top fighting form for some unnamed bad stuff, or something like that. So he really believes you’re me, good job with that! That’s just brilliant! Hmm…maybe that is the good news!”

“Oh yeah. Great.” David replied sarcastically. 

“Don’t worry,” The Doctor grinned, lowering the bed back down so David was in a fully prone position, “the TARDIS is tapped into the security camera system and I’m watching your every move. No harm will come to you.”

With that he gathered the soiled bedding dumped it into a cart and left the room.  
\-------

The Master, like the TARDIS, was also tapped into the hospital’s security camera, he watched as The Doctor fought off the attempts to sedate him, with amusement. Of course he was very ill, but he was not stupid, and The Master knew, despite the outward impression, every one of those movements was deliberate. 

The Master made note to seek out the orderly who seemed to get enough of The Doctor’s trust to get him to take the herbal remedy, and bribe him handsomely to get him to be his personal spy.

As the security camera zoomed in on The Doctor’s now sleeping form The Master’s lips curled into a smile, “just a bit longer, my old friend, and then we shall meet up face to face. In the meanwhile, rest up, you’ll need your strength.”


	6. Chapter 6

 

The Doctor made it back to the TARDIS unseen. He was still dressed in the orderly’s outfit and as he passed one of the mirrors in the wardrobe room his reflection startled him a bit, the shaggy black wig and unfamiliar clothes really changed his appearance. Which given the nature of what they were trying to pull off was a good thing. 

What he hadn’t told David, he thought to himself as he changed into his more familiar blue suit, is that the reason he showed up when he did was not to get him to take the medication, that was just a bonus. What had gotten him worried was that the security camera’s signal had been jammed thus severing the only way he had of keeping tabs on the goings on in the hospital.  

Of course just a few tweaks of the TARDIS’ monitor would get him past their attempts to prevent him from tapping into the hospital’s system but he didn’t want to risk being out of contact for too long. And besides who doesn’t like visitors when one is ill? The Doctor reasoned. He hated using the actor as bait in this eternal struggle between The Master and himself. But it was necessary to flush him out!  

The Doctor paced around the console room occasionally glancing at the monitor to check in on David. Something had him on edge, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it but something felt wrong. He stopped his pacing and leaned against one of the pillars, and closed his eyes. He reached out telepathically to try to find The Master, but again hit a blank wall.  

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, every nerve in his body was screaming at him to take action and take it now. The waiting was the hardest part, The Doctor mused trying to soothe himself. He glanced back at the monitor; David appeared to still be asleep.  

The Doctor took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes, sleep sounded good to him too, but he couldn’t risk it. He was about to go make a cup of tea when a movement on the monitor caught his eye. A dark suited man with long blonde hair pulled back into a pony tail breezed into the hospital room, followed by two men in white coats and aimed a slim silver instrument at the camera causing it to go dead.  

The Doctor’s hearts raced in his chest, as he realised why his nerves had been on edge, The Master was making his move! He quickly ran up the TARDIS’s ramps to change back into his disguise.

\----

The Master had grown tired of waiting too. He fairly itched to have The Doctor in his possession and couldn’t wait until he was back in full fighting form. He would take matters into his own hand, “who better to cure a Time Lord than another Time Lord?” he reasoned, and at the rate they going even The Doctor would die of old age first. 

With this purpose in mind he barged into the hospital administrator’s office yet again, this time demanding they release The Doctor into his care. The Master was prepared to make the excuse that he was concerned for his welfare and if needed offer bribes or make threats to get what he wanted, but the Administrator was all to glad to get rid of The Doctor if it meant no more visits from The Master.

David was still asleep, the herbal remedy did soothe his stomach, but it also contained a fairly mild sedative that given his current state of health put him out immediately. So when The Master came into his room and zapped the camera with his laser screwdriver causing sparks to fly and an impressive bang as it flew off the wall, David didn’t even stir.

The Master leaned in close to the sleeping man and ran a cool hand down his cheek, he smiled tenderly like a father watching his child, then his face grew hard and he turned to the hospital staff, “make him ready to move!”

The first one to spring into action was a tall orderly wearing a white cap, with scraggly black hair that fell over a good deal of his face. The Master recognised him as the one who convinced The Doctor to take the medication earlier and pulled him aside, “young man” he cooed, wrapping a strong arm around the other’s thin shoulders, “how would you like to be rich beyond your wildest dreams?”

The orderly nodded enthusiastically, so The Master continued, “this patient will need 24 hour care, and you seem a trustworthy type. I would like to hire you to be his personal health aide. Do we have a deal?” he thrust his hand into the other’s gripping it tightly. Part of him wondered why the man’s hand felt cool to the touch, unlike the hot skin of the average human, but mostly glad this flunky was easily bought.

The orderly smiled and shook his hand, “deal” he growled in a low cockney voice.

The Master let him go and ordered him to fetch a gurney to take The Doctor to a waiting ambulance, for transport to The Master’s own home “and into my tender care” he chuckled to himself.

David woke up as the ambulance hit a big pothole. He tried to sit up but found he was held down to the gurney with a few straps across his chest and legs. He was about to panic when he saw The Doctor, in his orderly disguise, sitting next to him.

The Doctor leaned forward and reached across to adjust the blanket that covered him. They were alone in the back of the ambulance so The Doctor quickly whispered, “I’ll explain later. We’re not safe yet. It’d be best if you pretend to still be unconscious.”

David nodded slightly and closed his eyes. He forced himself to go limp, desperately trying to relax. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust The Doctor, but nothing about this situation made him feel safe. He just hoped the Time Lord knew what the hell he was doing.

In fact The Doctor really didn’t have a plan. He had envisioned this all happening in a very different way and having The Master deciding to take David out of the hospital was a completely unexpected move. As if The Master was every really that predictable, The Doctor thought with a mental sigh. It will be interesting to see where this was all leading up to…

  
  


 

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

The Master wasted no time, once the ambulance pulled up to his mansion, in getting The Doctor tucked away in a windowless room to be securely boxed up and contained.

The Master’s new flunky, the rather thin and shaggy orderly from the hospital, easily lifted The Doctor and placed him on the bed, “shall I tied him up?” he growled in a low gravelly voice.

The Master couldn’t swear to it but he thought that statement made The Doctor twitch in his sleep. He quickly dismissed that as a trick of the light, and thought about the offer before replying, “no I don’t think he’s in any shape to go running off and this door will be locked from the outside. But I like the way you think.”

The orderly gave him a slightly disappointed look, the corners of his mouth turned down but he just nodded and arranged the covers over The Doctor. The Master stepped over to the bed and looked down on the still form of his old enemy for a few moments in silence.

“I wonder what’s going on in that little head of yours…” he pondered and reached over to put his fingers on his temples to touch The Doctor’s mind but this action was interrupted by the orderly who quickly grabbed his hands away.

“You don’t want to touch mate, he could be contagious!”

“I suppose you have a point,” The Master bit back his annoyance, wanting to keep this rather ungainly human on his side. Instead of his first reaction, wanting to cuff the man for daring to touch him, he just straightened up and broke the man’s grip on his wrists. “I have important business to tend to. There’s a small washroom off to your left and you can to press that button, there, if you need anything. If he gives you any trouble you’ll find sedatives in that cabinet. I’ll check back in a few hours.”

With that The Master left the room. He didn’t go too far, just down a short hallway and to an observation room, and leaned into the monitor to watch the goings on in The Doctor’s room.

The orderly walked over to the washroom, peered inside and then examined the contents of the cabinet that contained the medications. Then he strolled around the room checking out the various instruments and call buttons before settling into a chair next to The Doctor’s bed. He pulled out a book from his uniform pocket and a pair of thick glasses from another pocket and put them on. He then leaned back in the chair a bit to put his feet up on the lower rail of the bed and began to read.

The Master smiled to himself as he read the title of the book, it was one of the latest trashy blood and guts novels that passed for popular culture among the stupid apes he was forced to live amongst. He watched this scene for a bit before nodding to himself in a very self satisfied way, “this one,” he laughed, tapping the image of the orderly on the monitor “will be like putty in my hands.”

The Doctor waited a good ten minutes before daring to speak in a low voice to David, “are you awake?” he ventured holding the book up to his face to cover his mouth.

David rolled onto his side his back to the camera; “yes, oh and thanks a lot for suggesting they tie me up!” he spat out in an almost whisper.

“Sorry,” The Doctor laughed, not sounding very sincere, “I got carried away.”

“Right,” David replied, “so you’ve seen The Master, you know where he is, grab him and let’s get out of here.”

The Doctor sighed, “it’s a bit more complicated than that, I’m afraid.”

“What to you mean ‘complicated’?” David shot back.

“Well…he locked the door on the way out, and knowing The Master it’s a dead lock seal. He would take that precaution against, you, I mean me using the sonic screwdriver or something of that ilk to get the door open.”

“So we’re locked in here?”

“Yup,” The Doctor replied cheerfully.

“Please tell me you have a plan,” David replied trying to keep his voice calm.

“Well…not a plan as such. I mean don’t get me wrong I had one at one point but things sort of got in the way of that and so now, I’m winging it,” The Doctor laughed, “but don’t worry I am usually pretty good at it.”

David chose not to focus on the word “usually”, and fell silent trying to get his thoughts together before continuing.

The Doctor flipped a page on the book, “we almost got caught,” he continued, his voice taking on a less jovial tone, “the whole jig would have been up had The Master actually tried to get into your mind, that would have blown our cover.”

“You covered nicely,” David admitted.

“Thanks, but if he does that and I’m not around, it could be very bad news for you,” The Doctor sighed.

“What do you suggest I do if he does?”

“Picture a brick wall in your mind, keep focusing on that and only that, and hopefully that will be enough,” The Doctor advised, “because otherwise our little charade will be up. And I don’t want to even consider what would happen then.”

\------

The Master did have important business to attend to, people to intimidate, lives to ruin, etc, but his mind kept drifting back to The Doctor and that strange human he had bribed to be his keeper. There was something about that orderly that made his skin tingle whenever he was around him.

The Master never really considered humans that intriguing but there was something about the orderly, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. What was it that made him stand out amongst the rest of the stupid apes? The orderly was by no means attractive; his scraggly black hair that looked like it was months overdue for a trim and probably not recently washed, was repulsive. And that white uniform hung off of his lank frame like a child playing dress up in his father’s clothing.

No, there was nothing special about that man The Master tried to convince himself. The special prize in that room was The Doctor, too ill to run, and completely at The Master’s mercy.

So why did his thoughts keep coming back to the orderly? The Master ground his teeth in frustration, “this is insane!” he chided himself.

Then to soothe his mind The Master pictured all the wonderful ways he would torture The Doctor once he was back in full fighting form. He sat back in his luxurious desk chair, fingers pressed into a triangle and smiled, “get well soon, Doctor,” he laughed.

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

Even though it looked like he was engrossed in his book The Doctor’s mind was racing. He weighed all the options available to them, considering each one of them in turn, but found that most of them sort of relied on being on the other side of the locked door.

The Doctor lowered the book a bit to look at David who was now on his back with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling. He could tell that the actor also was deep in thought, and could sense the increasing tension coming from him as it became painfully apparent to David they both were trapped.

The Doctor put the book down on the arm of the chair and took off the thick glasses, rising to his feet. He moved to David’s bedside and pulled a stethoscope out of his pocket, placing it on the man’s chest blocking him from view of the camera as he pretended to take his vitals.

“I am sorry, so sorry, to have gotten you involved in this,” The Doctor began, but he didn’t really know where to go from there so he fell silent.

“I have to be on set at 7am tomorrow, or today or…what day is it? I’ve lost track of time,” David mused.

“I promise when we get out of this, you’ll be there on time,” The Doctor picked up the chart hanging off the end of the bed, scribbled something down and hung it back, “trust me.”

When David didn’t respond, The Doctor leaned down and adjusted the head of the bed a bit in doing so got very close to him. “You do trust me, don’t you?” he asked a note of concern tingeing his voice, a slight frown on his face.

“Of course,” David assured him, “but you have to remember this may all be routine for you, but this is not my usual mode of existence.”

The Doctor smiled, “I keep forgetting you’re only human. You did such a good job that I almost think of you as a fellow Time Lord.”

David returned his smile but The Doctor could tell the actor was still very worried. And truth be told so was he.

\---

By the time The Master made another visit David had drifted off into an uneasy sleep. The Doctor had made himself read the novel at a human’s pace even though he could have finished it with four seconds so he was about half way through it he heard the door being unlocked.

The Master glanced briefly at the figure on the bed then focused his attentions on the orderly, determined to divine what was so intriguing about him, “I never asked,” he casually started, “what is your name young man?”

“Joe,” The Doctor replied, quickly discarding his usual favourite John Smith as being a bit too obvious.

“And your surname would be?” The Master prompted.

The Doctor glanced around the room, and then fixing his eyes on the colour of the walls, “Green.”

“Joe Green,” The Master smiled, the mirth not quite reaching his eyes, “Joe my dear lad, you are in a very fortunate position, my good graces. You do as I ask of you, and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams.”

The Master placed his arm paternally around the man’s thin shoulders, “your patient, although he may not look it now, is a very dangerous man. He is an old enemy of mine, sent to bring me to harm.”

With that he took a step back and looked him in the eyes, with very condescending tone of voice asked, “and we don’t want me to come to harm to do we?”

The orderly shook his head, so The Master continued; “now you may ask yourself, if he is so dangerous why would I want him to be nursed back to health?”

“I was wondering,” The orderly started, but The Master cut him off.

“I don’t want it to be said that I am a cruel and heartless man. I can be quite benevolent and forgiving. It is out of the goodness of my hearts, I mean heart, that I do this. I am turning the other cheek as the saying goes,” The Master paced around the room as he droned on making The Doctor’s head hurt but he stayed in character and let him continue, “that is why, Joe my dear lad, I am helping him out. Charity begins at home.”

The Doctor bit back a laugh as the scene from the first “Terminator” movie where the Cyborg had a visual list of all the appropriate and insulting replies scroll by, flashed in his head. Instead he settled for, “that is very kind of you.”

The Master stopped his pacing and stood right in front of him. There was that sensation again, he thought. Every time he got close to this man the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He reached out with the intention of removing the man’s thick glasses to get a better look at his eyes but just then The Doctor woke up and started coughing harshly.

The Master stepped away from the orderly and turned his attention to The Doctor, “get him a glass of water,” he barked at the human.

As The Master watched The Doctor gasp for breath, his face turning an alarming red under his normally pale skin, another surge of unwanted sympathy took him by surprise. He had fantasized for so long about having The Doctor helpless in his grasp and now he had precisely that shouldn’t that be a triumph? Shouldn’t he feel powerful, vengeful and even happy to have what he’s always wanted?

The orderly raised the head of the bed up and held the glass of water to The Doctor’s lips only to have it almost knocked out of his hand when The Doctor was hit by another violent coughing fit.

The Master, now a jumbled mix of conflicting emotions, seemed rooted to the spot unable to decide what to do next, took all this in with a sense of watching something from afar.

The orderly finally got some of the water into The Doctor’s mouth, which seemed to help quiet the coughing. When then grabbed an oxygen mask from the supply cabinet and began to fit it over the ill Time Lord’s face The Master found his feet again and left the room without another word.

 


	9. Chapter 9

Once The Master left the room The Doctor sat on the edge of the bed, “are you all right?” he asked David, his eyes full of concern.

David lifted the mask slightly, “I think I may have coughed up a lung but that was just a ruse, I’m fine.”

The Doctor sat back a bit, “why did you do that?”

“He was going to take your glasses off, he’s getting suspicious, and so I distracted him.”

“You didn’t need to do that. I can take care of myself!” The Doctor protested.

“There’s gratitude for you,” David laughed, “how about ‘thank you’?”

The Doctor rose from the bed and took a seat in the chair, picking up the book without another word.

David turned to his side and watched the Time Lord for a bit, waiting for him to say something more but when he didn’t he just sighed, “if you’re going to sulk…”

The Doctor didn’t lower the book before speaking; “I am busy trying to think of a way to get us out of here, I am not sulking!”

“And?”

The Doctor peered over the top of the book at him, “you’re right, The Master is getting suspicious. A Time Lord can sense the presence of another Time Lord. For now, he still believes that’s you he’s picking up on, but he’s beginning to wonder about me. And he’s not going to stop until he satisfies his curiosity.”

“Maybe it’s time to do something, grab him the next time he comes in and haul him off to the TARDIS,” David advised.

“It’s not that simple, he’s got us monitored, he’s got armed thugs, we need to catch him off guard with his defenses down,” The Doctor replied, “and it has to be just at the right time, if we show our cards too soon...”

“So…more waiting.”

“Yup,” when David didn’t reply The Doctor continued, “look, this isn’t like an hour long programme, with commercial breaks I guess it’s really only 42 minutes, which is really frustrating because they always come at the height of tension or after a very important bit of dialog… anyway! The point is it’s not all going to be wrapped up neatly in that quick of a time.”

“I’m becoming painfully aware of that,” David grumbled, mostly to himself. Then he pulled the oxygen mask back down and rolled over onto his back closing his eyes.

\---------

The Master was also unsettled; he paced around his office with a scowl on his face that made everyone around him pray that they were not the cause of his anger. He was not the most patient being and he didn’t like being made to wait, even by himself.

He had The Doctor helpless at his mercy and that odd human on his side so why, oh why was he not springing into action? It would be so easy to end that infernal, insufferable Doctor’s miserable life, once and for all and be rid of him forever! In his current state of health it wouldn’t take much.

He was brought back to the present by one of the sniveling apes he had surrounded himself with, desperately trying to get his attention, “my Lord…” the man squeaked out.

The Master whirled on him not hiding his irritation, “what is it?”

The man gulped convulsively a few times, a thin river of sweat dripped down his cheek, “my Lord, I am so sorry for interrupting you…it’s just, err…it’s just…”

The Master stepped up to the man; lifting him by the horrid tie he had on pulled him in close, “you have exactly two seconds to spit it out!”

“The security cameras all went dead!”

The Master let him go, and strode to the observation room, true to the man’s word all the monitors were black, “when did this happen?” he barked not taking his eyes from the row of blank screens.

“Minutes ago. I came as soon as they went down.”

“The patient’s room, what was going on in there before the camera’s went dead?” The Master prompted.

“Nothing. The patient was asleep, the caretaker was reading his book, nothing unusual,” The man protested, “just routine.”

The Master straightened up, “there is something going on, that orderly is not what he seems!” with that he ran out of the room and down the hall.

When he got to The Doctor’s room he inserted the key in the lock but found he couldn’t turn it. He forced it in harder and tried again and again. This action only resulted in the key breaking off in the lock.

The Master stared at the bit of broken key in his hand and with a growl of frustration kicked the door four times before regaining his composure and ordering the now trembling man to go fetch someone with locksmith skills.

As he waited The Master leaned his head against the door, trying to telepathically sense what was going on in the room, but each time he reached out he hit an image of a brick wall, which did nothing to soothe his anger.

He closed his eyes concentrating on the orderly, going over in his mind every detail of the man. The thin arms and long legs, the hair that resembled nothing more than some form of putrid road kill, the large dark eyes…

The eyes! Of course! How could he have been so stupid? The Master straightened up, and a cold smile creased his face.

The locksmith arrived and after a few minutes of tinkering, which felt to The Master like an eternity, he got the door open.

The Master pushed him out of the way impatiently, and without word lifted the orderly out of his chair, pulled him to his feet, threw him against the wall and moved to clamp his fingers on the man’s temples.

Even though he has pinned against the wall, the orderly fought back, his hands wrapped around The Master’s wrists trying to hold him off, but he was no match for the Time Lord’s determination. As contact was made the orderly gasped and stiffened, then went limp in his hands. Despite the man’s feeble attempts to block him he broke into his mind swiftly, brutally forcing his way in.

As he accessed the other’s memories, it became The Master’s turn to gasp, no, this is not right! He thought to himself. This man had to be The Doctor! He pulled back, one hand still pressed to the orderly’s temple while the other pulled off the wig and thick glasses, removing his victim’s disguise. As each item was taken away revealing the man underneath The Master’s hearts pounded ever harder.

The Master was so caught up in his discoveries that he was taken totally by surprise when The Doctor came up behind him, snapped a collar around his neck and flipped a switch.

The Master dropped his prey, and spun around to face The Doctor before the collar froze him to the spot. As he looked into The Doctor’s eyes the last thought he had before his world went dark was to wonder how the hell he had managed to be in two places at once.

  
  


 


	10. Chapter 10

“So, what is he? A force-grown clone?”

The Doctor looked up from his ministrations, “none of your business” he snapped and went back to work.

“Or is he that metacrisis abomination?” The Master continued.

“I’m not talking to you about this,” The Doctor shot back not taking his eyes from the far too still man on the bed in the med bay of the TARDIS.

“I didn’t mean to hurt him…” The Master started.

“No, you meant to hurt me. That still doesn’t make what you did right. You cannot just go barging your way into someone’s mind like that!”

“You should keep him as one of your special pets,” The Master laughed, “that way the next time someone tells you do go screw yourself, you could.”

The Doctor shot him a deadly glare but said nothing.

The Master took advantage of The Doctor being distracted to once again try to remove the restraining collar around his neck; it gave a slight warning beep that he hoped the other Time Lord didn’t hear.

Of course that was folly, The Doctor heard it and smirked at him, “if you truly have a death wish then by all means continue.”

“I hope whoever he is, you warned him that he is on my enemies list just under you, and I will be paying him back for this little passion play piece the two of you conjured up,” The Master sneered.

“You will leave him alone,” The Doctor warned.

“Or?”

If The Doctor was going to further explain or not his words were cut off by David finally opening his eyes, “why is it every time you come into my life I get a raging headache?” he groaned.

The Master walked over to the actor and stuck his hand out, “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, I’m The Master and you are?”

“Subtle,” The Doctor rolled his eyes, “don’t answer that. In fact if you want to go ahead and totally ignore him go do. I plan to.”

David sat up, “what he said.”

The Master glared at the both of them. Taking a moment to regard David closely he sat next to him on the bed, “I like solving puzzles.”

“Good for you,” David shot back and got to his feet a bit shakily, noting he was still in the white orderly’s outfit. Then turning to The Doctor he asked, “are you taking me back, then?”

The Master noted the man’s accent, Scottish. Ticking that off on his mental list he said nothing just watched with a sort of fascination as the human and the other Time Lord chatted out of earshot. The resemblance was pretty uncanny, he had to admit and part of him plotted on how he could use this not-Doctor for something in the future, after he made him suffer of course.

He was so lost in his fantasy of revenge that The Master didn’t even register that The Doctor and the human had left the room.

In one of the alcoves off of the console room in the TARDIS The Doctor handed David his own clothes back and watched the actor as he changed into them in silence for a few moments, “how long were you actually awake in the med bay?”

“Only a few minutes,” David smiled, “didn’t fool you did I? I heard you and The Master talking. Do you really think he will try to come after me?”

“Right now he’s pretty upset with me and by extension, you. I wouldn’t rule it out but I am also not planning on letting him do anything to harm you.”

“So the simple answer is, yes.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it. We’re almost back to your hotel room; we’ll be landing in a few minutes. Again, thank you so much for everything,” The Doctor smiled, “oh and before you go, this is for you.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial handing it to the actor.

“What is it?”

“The cure for the Valchovian Plague. It will take a few hours to take effect.”

“You had this all along?” David asked incredulously, but didn’t hesitate to swallow the contents quickly praying it would kick in soon.

The Doctor was saved from having to reply by the sound of the TARDIS landing.

\-----

The rapidly cooling water roused David from his bath-induced stupor; he climbed out of the tub, wrapped himself in his robe and picked up the half empty glass of wine. As he walked into the sitting area of the hotel room he felt the weight of the fob watch in his pocket lightly tapping against his hip in time with his strides. For some reason it didn’t spook him so much now, in fact its presence was oddly comforting. As he reached into the pocket to curl his fingers around it, it seemed to warm to his touch.

He finished the glass of wine, and decided that maybe he would skip dinner; his stomach felt a bit jumpy. Maybe he was coming down with something? Just then an odd scrap of a memory popped into his head, something about a plague and a vague remembrance of toothpaste-y taste.

He poured another glass of wine downed it a few gulps. Might as well turn in early, he thought and headed into the bedroom. Before getting into bed, he set the fob watch next to the alarm clock. As he fell asleep he could almost swear he heard it whispering to him.

 


End file.
